Hyderabad: AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday, July 10, urged the Telangana government to issue Permanent Residence Certificates (PRCs) to eligible residents to help them establish their identity during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Owaisi met Telangana Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju and submitted a representation seeking the issuance of PRCs or Family Register Certificates to electors in the state. He was accompanied by the chairman and vice-chairman of the Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions Society.
The AIMIM chief requested the state government, led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy, to exercise its executive powers under Article 162 of the Constitution to issue the certificates. He argued that such a measure would help genuine voters who lack the documents required during the SIR process.
Referring to neighbouring Karnataka, Owaisi said the Congress government there issues Permanent Residence Certificates under the Karnataka Sakala Services Act, 2011, and urged Telangana to adopt a similar mechanism.
In a post on X, Owaisi said, ” If Revanth Reddy accepts, it will be beneficial to poor people of Telangana in getting their names in the Final SIR list, which will save them many troubles and inconvenience.”
Demand amid SIR exercise
The latest representation comes days after Owaisi publicly demanded that the Telangana government introduce Permanent Residence Certificates to ensure that eligible voters are not excluded from the electoral rolls during the ongoing revision exercise.
Earlier this week, he said he had been unable to secure an appointment with Chief Minister Revanth Reddy but had discussed the issue with Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.
Owaisi suggested that PRCs could be issued based on the presence of a person’s parents’ or grandparents’ names in electoral rolls or through supporting documents such as Aadhaar, Public Distribution System (PDS) ration cards and school records.
‘Genuine voters should not lose franchise’
The Hyderabad MP claimed that around 50 people have been approaching AIMIM every day over the past two months, stating that they do not possess the documents sought during the SIR exercise.
While stressing that duplicate entries, deceased voters and other ineligible names should be removed from the electoral rolls, he said genuine voters should not be disenfranchised because they are unable to produce documentary proof.
Owaisi also criticised the ruling Congress, saying it was out of touch with the realities faced by poor people if it failed to recognise that many residents do not possess all the required documents.
He urged the government to act before the final electoral rolls are published rather than expressing concern after eligible voters’ names are allegedly deleted.
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